Chapter 5: Do More Shared Writing

I enjoyed this chapter and found some thing that I would really like to try in my class. A lot of the activities seemed to be geared towards the younger grade levels. When I taught Kindergarten I did the cut up sentences. They kids loved this. How could I change it to adapt to 6th grade students? The other thing I really like about this chapter was she should an example of how she dialogues. It was nice to see how she would lead the students, something I didn't think we were suppose to do.

These are some activities I would really like to try in my class.

* Holes activity, would be grade appropriate in any of our novels we read as a class. pg.87
*To start a story as a class and then have them finish it in partners. pg. 89
*Cloze exercise

I have always seemed to try and make things harder than what she did. She showed how easy and quick it really can be. That is what I want quick, easy, & fun.

Chapter 4: Raise Your Expectations

Quite frankly, I cannot believe that she opened this chapter the way she did. Saying that teachers don't have high enough expectations for their students. Not one time have I ever NOT set high expectations for EVERY student in my class. Nor do I know of any teachers that I have taught with not to do the same. Of course we want our students to do everything and anything better than they did at the beginning of a year. It doesn't matter whether it is academically, musically, in sports, or whatever they choose to do.

"Our teaching style and demeanor toward our students determine their attitudes and efforts toward learning. In too many classrooms-where students may be disruptive, resistant, learning English as a second language, or have parents who have difficulty communicating with teachers-we give students permission to fail." (page 82)

The first sentence I could not agree more with. We teachers set the tone for the whole year of learning. The second sentence though I COULD NOT DISAGREE with more. Having taught in districts where my whole class were ELL learners, never once did I set my expectations low or even consider letting them FAIL. I expected the world from them. The same went for their parents. Just because there was a language barrier is no excuse. You do what you have to do to get those kids ready for the next year and to be able to survive in life. I had several parents who would come up to me and tell me that they were learning along with their child because of the skills I had them doing at home with their parents.

Chapter 3: Share Your Writing Life

In this chapter she talks a lot about writing & sharing with your colleagues. As uncomfortable as I feel about writing in front of my class, it is even worse with my colleagues. I remember an instance where we were suppose to write about something and I just sat there. It was like I had never written before and had no ideas popping in my head that I could write about. Which makes me think about pg. 45 where the author talks about making "a safe haven" for all writers.

"You only have to write a little bit better than your students for them to take something away from your writing." pg. 45 I have always felt like the teacher on this page, in which I have to have everything perfect in order to feel that my students can get anything out of my examples.

In the section about writing at the beginning of a year, I did start feel a little bit better about some writing in my class. I stopped and thought about all the writing we did at the beginning of this year: All About Me, Autobiography, Summer Memories, etc... The one thing I stop and reflect on is that I need to continue this throughout the year and do MORE modeling myself.

Start with Celebration

Or as I like to call this chapter "The I Don't Do Enough of That". I don't do enough sharing, celebrating, letting them choose, or displaying. I do like how she points out that you celebrate whatever your student has on his/her paper. That is something that I overlook a lot. I get so caught up in making sure everything is right, that I forget to let them know what I really like about their paper.

Poetry is a genre that I have always been scared to touch, but do. I have a hard time believing that this is the one that "brings most joy, ease, and success for both the students and teacher." Please let me know if this is happening in your classroom.

The one thing that I did think about at the end of this chapter, is how much I would like my class to be able to blog with another class in this district & in another state. Having the students see how other 6th graders write & what they like about writing.

Chapter 1: Simplify the Teaching of Writing

As I read this chapter I kept picturing my class. We MUST follow the 6 trait writing, a procedure. As I stop and think about this years class the student's groan when I talk about writing. I think if I enjoyed it myself or felt more confident with this, my student's would enjoy it also. What I want more than anything from this class is her opening words on page 5, "One of my main purposes in writing this book is to make teaching writing easier, more manageable, and more fun." Fun is what I want. There are times that my class enjoys sharing their writing, but most of the time it is like pulling teeth. I want them to want to share ALL of the time.

The other thing that I got most out of this chapter is on page 8 & 9, giving students time to talk before they write. Something so simple, but a "belief" that I have not lived by. This is also a "belief" that I could use right away in my classroom.

In this chapter she talks a lot about teacher modeling. This is something that I am not real comfortable with. I do it, but not as often as I should. Our team 6 has talked about this quite often and I hope it is a "belief" that I can become quite comfortable with throughout this class.